Written Answers Wednesday 8 March 2006

Scottish Executive

Ambulance Service

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many targets for ambulance response times have not been met in (a) total and (b) in each NHS board area in each of the last three years, broken down by (i) category of call and (ii) response times in (A) urban and (B) rural areas.

Mr Andy Kerr: Under the priority based dispatch system, which is used in all mainland board areas, 999 emergency calls are processed using a well proven, clinically approved, screen based software (called Advanced Medical Priority Dispatch System). Based on the responses of the caller, the software assigns the call a response category. The categories and standards applied, as well as the performance of the Scottish Ambulance Service broken down by NHS board area is set out in the following table.

  Category A calls are clinically defined as "immediately life-threatening". The target is that by March 2008, 75% of such calls should be responded to within eight minutes across mainland Scotland. The ambulance service has phased the introduction of priority based dispatch and is progressing towards this target.

  Category B calls are clinically defined as "not life-threatening but still serious". The target for this category of calls is that 95% should be responded to within either 14, 19 or 21 minutes depending on the population density of the health board (urban, rural or sparse respectively). The ambulance service’s performance over the last three years for this category of call, broken down by health board area is listed in the following table.

  

 Health Board
 Rurality Classification
 2003-04 
Percentage Performance Against Category B Target
 2004-05 
Percentage Performance Against Category B Target
 2005-January 2006 
Percentage Performance Against Category B Target


 Argyll and Clyde
 Sparse
 n/a
 94.7
 94.9


 Ayrshire and Arran
 Sparse
 n/a
 96.2
 96.4


 Borders
 Sparse
 93.5
 93.7
 92.3


 Dumfries and Galloway
 Sparse
 n/a
 90.2
 90.6


 Fife
 Rural
 96.5
 97.0
 97.2


 Forth Valley
 Sparse
 96.6
 96.6
 95.6


 Grampian
 Sparse
 96.2
 96.5
 97.0


 Greater Glasgow
 Urban
 89.9
 85.6
 86.6


 Highland
 Sparse
 92.9
 92.3
 92.6


 Lanarkshire
 Rural
 95.0
 93.1
 93.9


 Lothian
 Rural
 97.9
 97.3
 96.7


 Tayside
 Sparse
 96.2
 95.4
 95.8



  The rurality classifications reflected local demography and were applied based on local authority areas. They are:

  Sparse – less than 0.5 persons per acre;

  Rural – less than 3.0 but more than 0.5 persons per acre, and

  Urban – more than 3.0 persons per acre.

  The other category of call which is dealt with by the accident and emergency ambulance service is doctors’ urgent calls. This is where a GP or a clinician requests an ambulance to be with a patient or to have a patient in hospital within a timeframe agreed with the Ambulance Service Emergency Medical Dispatch Centre. The target is to carry out the request within 15 minutes of the time agreed in 95% of cases. The ambulance service’s performance over the last three years for this category of call, broken down by health board area is listed in the following table.

  

 Health Board
 2003-04 Percentage Performance Against Doctors’ Urgent target
 2004-05 Percentage Performance Against Doctors’ Urgent target
 2005-January 06 Percentage Performance Against Doctors’ Urgent Target


 Argyll and Clyde
 87.2
 89.9
 89.9


 Ayrshire and Arran
 94.4
 89.6
 91.5


 Borders
 96.9
 94.5
 94.6


 Dumfries and Galloway
 93.0
 87.8
 89.8


 Fife
 98.0
 96.8
 96.8


 Forth Valley
 97.8
 96.0
 93.7


 Grampian
 98.9
 99.9
 99.9


 Greater Glasgow
 83.0
 82.3
 87.8


 Highland
 98.9
 99.8
 99.9


 Lanarkshire
 85.5
 84.9
 87.1


 Lothian
 97.3
 93.4
 93.1


 Tayside
 96.7
 94.6
 94.0



  The ambulance service continues to apply the previous standards – called ORCON standards - to their responses to calls from NHS Western Isles, NHS Shetland and NHS Orkney.

  For each of those boards the performance is listed in the following tables:

  

 NHS Orkney
 2003-04 Percentage Performance
 2004-05 Percentage Performance
 2005-January 2006 Performance


 Emergency - Achievement against 50% responded to in 8 minutes
 50.9
 49.0
 46.7


 Emergency - Achievement against 95% responded to in 21 minutes
 88.3
 88.8
 86.7


 Doctors’ Urgent – Achievement against 95% within 15 minutes of agreed time
 99.6
 100.0
 100.0



  

 NHS Shetland
 2003-04 Percentage Performance
 2004-05 Percentage Performance
 2005-January 2006 Performance


 Emergency - Achievement against 50% responded to in 8 minutes
 48.7
 43.9
 45.8


 Emergency - Achievement against 95% responded to in 21 minutes
 81.2
 78.1
 81.3


 Doctors’ Urgent – Achievement against 95% within 15 minutes of agreed time
 99.1
 100.0
 99.9



  

 NHS Western Isles
 2003-04 Percentage Performance
 2004-05 Percentage Performance
 2005-January 06 Performance


 Emergency - Achievement against 50% responded to in 8 minutes
 55.0
 51.4
 46.8


 Emergency - Achievement against 95% responded to in 21 minutes
 86.3
 88.6
 86.8


 Doctors’ Urgent – Achievement against 95% within 15 minutes of agreed time
 99.4
 100.0
 100.0



  Note: *The information in the tables has been supplied by the Scottish Ambulance Service.

Avian Influenza

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that vaccination of birds could help prevent the spread of avian flu.

Ross Finnie: Preventive vaccination is only permitted under EU legislation when a country is at high risk of disease incursion. This is not currently the case in Scotland. The advice I have received from the Chief Veterinary Officer (Scotland) is that given the efficacy of current vaccines and the epidemiology of the disease it is difficult to see circumstances in which a preventive vaccination could provide effective disease control. This advice reflects the potential effect that vaccination of birds can have on masking the disease and the need for a clear exit strategy from any measures taken. In the current circumstances surveillance and biosecurity will remain our best defences.

Cancer

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Children’s Cancer Services in Scotland Working Group is due to complete its next report and when the report will be made available to the Parliament.

Lewis Macdonald: The Children’s Cancer Services in Scotland Working Group was set up as a short-life working group to report to the Children and Young People’s Health Support Group (CYPHSG) and is no longer meeting. Children’s cancer services in Scotland will now be considered as part of a national review of specialist children’s services as set out in Delivering for Health . It is expected that an Option Appraisal on children’s cancer services will be completed by the end of 2006.

Care Commission

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will direct the Care Commission to routinely inform local authorities of cases of abuse found to have been committed in residential homes.

Lewis Macdonald: There are already arrangements in place which allow the Care Commission to inform local authorities of cases of abuse, and alleged cases, in care homes or other care services.

  The Commission’s complaints procedure was published in September 2004 under the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 with the approval of ministers. That procedure includes arrangements to fast-track complaints where there are indications of abuse or neglect or allegations of an offence that present a clear risk of actual or probable harm to the service user. In these circumstances the commission will inform the relevant agencies immediately on receipt of the complaint. Where the outcome of a complaint – whether or not it is fast tracked - leads to formal enforcement action this will be included in the care service provider’s next inspection report and will be followed up by the commission as part of the inspection process.

  In addition, the commission has a duty under the act to copy all formal improvement notices to the local authority where the service is provided.

  The commission is developing agreements with local authorities and health boards which set out arrangements for sharing information including information on allegations and cases of abuse raised in the course of the Care Commission’s regulatory activities.

  Separately, as part of the Adult Support and Protection Bill, ministers will be bringing forward proposals that place a requirement on all agencies to collaborate and share information where it is thought that an adult is at risk in whatever setting.

Care of Older People

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people aged 65 and over have received intensive home care in (a) West Renfrewshire and (b) Inverclyde in each year since 1999, expressed also as a percentage of all older people in these areas.

Lewis Macdonald: This information is not collected centrally for the whole year. However, the number and percentage of older people in Renfrewshire and Inverclyde local authority areas receiving intensive home care in the week ending 31 March each year since 1999 is:

  

 
 Year
 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003
 2004
 2005


 Renfrewshire
 Number
 310
 426
 471
 442
 486
 433
 440


 Percentage
 1.2%
 1.6%
 1.8%
 1.6%
 1.8%
 1.6%
 1.6%


 Inverclyde
 Number
 110
 106
 133
 163
 180
 277
 320


 Percentage
 0.8%
 0.8%
 0.9%
 1.2%
 1.3%
 2.0%
 2.3%



  Notes:

  1. Older people means people aged 65 or over.

  2. Intensive home care means 10 or more hours per week.

Central Heating Programme

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what information has been given by Eaga Partnership Ltd anent the number of private sector pensioners’ homes in the PA14 postcode area which have had central heating systems installed in (a) 2002-03, (b) 2003-04 and (c) 2004-05 and how many such homes will have installations carried out in (d) 2005-06 and (e) 2006-07.

Johann Lamont: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

  Communities Scotland has contacted Eaga Partnership which has indicated that it has not provided information on the number of private sector pensioners’ homes in the PA14 postcode area. The information relating to numbers is provided by main postcode area only.

Council Tax

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much council tax each local authority has lost in each year since 1999 as a result of council house voids.

Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not held centrally.

Council Tax

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to review or change any of the provisions within the Council Tax (Discount for Unoccupied Dwellings) (Scotland) Regulations 2005 and, if so, when it will publish the results of the review or introduce changes.

George Lyon: A review of the regulations and associated guidance to the Council Tax (Discount for Unoccupied Dwellings) (Scotland) Regulations 2005 was carried out shortly after the Regulations came into force. The review involved local authorities, Communities Scotland, Registered Social Landlords and Scottish Water. The review was carried out to ensure the regulations were operating effectively and to invite comment on whether any amendments were required.

  Following the review, amendments were made to the guidance to allow additional income raised (by reductions in discount provided for by the Regulations) to be spent on a wider range of affordable housing programmes. Monies raised can now be spent on Rural Home Ownership Grants and to support the acquisition and upgrading of properties not on the market. The guidance was also amended to clarify some technical matters and circulated to stakeholders in December 2005. At the suggestion of local authorities, we plan to conduct a further review of the regulations later this year.

DNA Samples

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how many research projects involving ethnic or racial profiling have been approved by the National DNA Database Board using DNA profiles or samples collected in Scotland since 1995.

Cathy Jamieson: No research projects involving ethnic or racial profiling have been approved by the National DNA Database Board using profiles or samples collected in Scotland.

DNA Samples

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what legal advice it has sought in respect of the use of DNA samples collected from individuals arrested in Scotland which has been used for genetic research without consent.

Cathy Jamieson: DNA samples collected from individuals arrested in Scotland are not used for research.

DNA Samples

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what legal advice it has sought in respect of the use of DNA samples collected from volunteers in Scotland for genetic research without consent.

Cathy Jamieson: DNA samples collected from volunteers in Scotland are not used for research.

Dentistry

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to fulfil the Partnership Agreement commitment to free dental checks.

Lewis Macdonald: Free NHS dental checks will be introduced from 1 April 2006.

Dentistry

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS patients have been removed from general dental practitioner lists as a result of dentists moving to full private practice in each of the last three years, broken down by NHS board.

Lewis Macdonald: This information is not held centrally.

Dentistry

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of adults were registered with NHS dentists in each of the last three years, broken down by NHS board.

Lewis Macdonald: This information is contained in Appendix 1, table A6 of the Scottish Dental Practice Board Annual Report 2004/05 .

  This can be found at:

  http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/sdpb/Annual%20Report%20and%20Executive%20Summaries/SDPB_annual_report_2004-05.pdf.

Dentistry

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how the dental workforce needs for Scotland are determined and what the role of the Scottish Advisory Committee on the Dental Workforce is in this regard.

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Scottish Advisory Committee on the Dental Workforce last met.

Lewis Macdonald: To date, the dental workforce needs for Scotland have been considered by NHS Education for Scotland and published in biannual Workforce Planning in Dentistry reports, informed by advice from the Scottish Advisory Committee on the Dental Workforce.

  The National Workforce Planning Framework, published in August 2005, introduced a new, annual workforce planning cycle. Within this cycle, NHS boards will produce workforce plans each April, and Regions each September. NHS board and region assessments of workforce demand will inform national decisions affecting supply.

  NHS boards have been asked to consider dental services as part of their workforce plans, taking account the Action Plan for Improving Oral Health and Modernising NHS Dental Services in Scotland, and local implications.

  The Scottish Advisory Committee on the Dental Workforce last met in May 2004. Its members will continue to contribute professional advice and views to the national workforce planning process.

Dentistry

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is in respect of providing funding to private companies to establish dental practices.

Lewis Macdonald: Only dentists and dental bodies corporate whose names are included on the relevant registers of the General Dental Council may own and run dental practices in the UK. These are independent private businesses in the main although some dentists are directly employed by the NHS. Currently NHS boards may make arrangements with dentists on their dental lists for the provision of NHS general dental services (GDS) in their areas. These dentists may apply for grant under the Executive’s Scottish Dental Access Initiative (SDAI) to establish or expand NHS practices in areas of unmet patient demand or high oral health need.

Dentistry

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many dentists have been recruited from overseas in the last seven years.

Lewis Macdonald: This information is not held centrally as NHS boards have powers to recruit directly from overseas on their behalf.

  However, the Executive has recently worked in conjunction with NHS boards who expressed an interest in employing dentists recruited from Poland. The first such 11 dentists arrived in Scotland earlier this year and are now employed in Argyll and Clyde, Forth Valley and Fife.

Dentistry

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many salaried general dental practitioner posts there are in each NHS board area.

Lewis Macdonald: The responsibility for approving salaried dentist posts rests with NHS boards. The latest information held centrally from NHS boards indicates that the following number of salaried dentist posts have been approved in each NHS board area.

  

 NHS Board
 Number of Approved Salaried Dentist Posts1,2


 Argyll and Clyde
 18


 Ayrshire and Arran
 8


 Borders
 9


 Dumfries and Galloway
 13


 Fife 
 11


 Forth Valley
 12


 Grampian
 15


 Greater Glasgow
 23


 Highland
 44


 Lanarkshire
 2


 Lothian
 18


 Orkney
 8


 Shetland
 7


 Tayside
 2


 Western Isles
 6


 Scotland
 196



  Note:

  1. Salaried dentist posts range from 0.1 whole-time equivalent (WTE) to one WTE.

  2. The information is for salaried general dental practitioner posts only and does not include posts where community dental officers provide general dental services, i.e. joint CDS/GDS posts.

Dentistry

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many salaried general dental practitioners are in post in each NHS board area, expressed also as whole-time equivalents.

Lewis Macdonald: The responsibility for employing salaried dentists rests with NHS boards. Not all salaried dentist posts are filled by a single dentist, for example some posts are jointly filled by a number of dentists.

  Information on the number of salaried dentists can be found on the Scottish Health Statistics website:

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/info3.jsp?pContentID=3446&p_applic=CCC&p_service=Content.show&.

  The number of salaried dentists contained in the Workforce Statistics includes community dental officers who spend part of their working week providing general dental services, i.e. joint CDS/GDS postholders.

  No information is held centrally on the whole-time equivalence of salaried dentists or joint CDS/GDS postholders.

Doctors

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its plans are with regard to doctors registering interests in pharmaceuticals.

Mr Andy Kerr: All doctors are bound by professional guidance from the General Medical Council which requires that their prescribing is not affected by any interests they may have in pharmaceutical companies.

  As far as general practitioners in the NHS are concerned, a new contract for the delivery of medical services came into effect on 1 April 2004. The regulations which give effect to the contract require general practitioners to exercise professional judgement and care when providing general medical services for patients or in prescribing for them. These provisions are kept under review but there are at present no plans to change them.

Doctors

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any registration scheme in respect of doctors registering interests in pharmaceuticals will involve a contractual commitment.

Mr Andy Kerr: The existing arrangements were set out in 2003 in the guidance A Common Understanding which required that all NHS employees and independent contractors record with their health board any financial interest which might impact on NHS funding.

  If it were decided to go further than this and require general practitioners to keep a register of financial interests it could be achieved by amendment of the NHS (General Medical Services Contracts)(Scotland) Regulations 2004. This in turn would be reflected in the individual contracts they have with their health boards.

Drug Misuse

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria it uses to assess the efficacy of methadone in reducing infections of hepatitis B and C and HIV among injecting heroin addicts and the population at large.

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the outcome was of any monitoring of the efficacy of providing clean injecting equipment in reducing infections of hepatitis B and C and HIV among injecting heroin addicts and the population at large.

Hugh Henry: Health Protection Scotland (HPS) runs a surveillance initiative to measure the prevalence of infection by hepatitis C among injecting drug users and others and receives information on the number of new hepatitis B diagnoses among persons for whom injecting drug use was indicated as a risk factor. HPS also monitors the prevalence of HIV infection among injecting drug users and others through the surveillance of persons undergoing voluntary confidential HIV testing in Scotland. It is impossible to separate the different strands of the harm reduction intervention programme, such as needle/syringe exchange and methadone maintenance therapy, in terms of specific effectiveness.

Drug Misuse

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the outcome was of any monitoring of the efficacy of methadone in reducing infections of hepatitis B and C and HIV among injecting heroin addicts and the population at large.

Hugh Henry: In 1990, prevalence of hepatitis C among injecting drug users from Lothian and Glasgow aged under 25 was around 70-90%; these injectors would have commenced their injecting prior to the introduction of harm reduction interventions. By the mid-1990s, rates among under 25 year old injecting drug users had decreased to 20-40%. This rate has remained generally constant to 2002. In 1985, the number of new hepatitis B virus diagnoses in injecting drug users was 157, compared to 38 in 2002.

  The prevalence of HIV was 0.5% among 2,115 injecting drug users during 2004; this rate compares with prevalence of 1.4% to 3.2% in the early to mid-1990s and 0.5% to 0.8% during the period 1998 to 2003.

  It is impossible to separate the different strands of the harm reduction intervention programme, such as needle/syringe exchange and methadone maintenance therapy, in terms of specific effectiveness.

  Further information can be obtained from the Health Protection Scotland website at: http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/scieh.

Drug Misuse

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the outcome was of any monitoring of the efficacy of methadone in reducing crime among those addicted to illicit substances.

Hugh Henry: Local research in Glasgow in 1999 suggested that injecting drug users in the city committed 26 crimes per month, compared to four per month when prescribed methadone and when ceased injecting. Findings in 2005 from the much larger National Treatment Outcome Research Study (NTORS) in England and Wales showed that, for drug misusers who sought treatment voluntarily, there were substantial reductions both in the number of crimes committed and the percentage of clients engaged in crime. Similar reductions were found among clients from methadone and from residential programmes.

  Reports on NTORS can be found at http://www.dh.gov.uk/Publications.

Drug Misuse

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is in respect of the provision of clean pipes as part of a harm reduction programme for users of crack cocaine.

Hugh Henry: Provision of paraphernalia such as clean pipes for users of crack cocaine would require amendment of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. No such amendment is planned at present.

Drug Misuse

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to review its support for harm reduction measures as part of its approach to tackling illicit drug use.

Hugh Henry: Our strategy for tackling drug misuse is focused on outcomes such as the drug-free life, the crime-free life and a journey back into education, family life or employment. That means offering a wide range of options to those seeking help, tailored to individual needs and circumstance. A variety of approaches which are all effective, when used appropriately, can contribute to recovery – abstinence approaches, residential approaches, detoxification approaches and harm reduction approaches.

Drug Misuse

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessments it has made of current drug treatment programmes.

Hugh Henry: The Scottish Executive has commissioned a range of research to assess current drug treatment programmes. All relevant research reports published over the last five years are listed. Copies of these reports can be found on the Drug Misuse Information Scotland Website www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org/publications or the Chief Scientist Office website, www.show.scot.nhs.uk/cso/publications :

  Evaluation of the Scottish Prison Service Transitional Care Initiative (2006)

  Evaluation of the Lord Advocates Guidance on Needle Exchange (2005)

  Rural and remote areas: Effective approaches to delivering integrated care for drug users (2005)

  Service Provision for Drug Users in Rural and Remote Areas of Scotland: a Qualitative Study (2005)

  Impact of Methadone Maintenance Therapy, Five Years after Initial Entry into Treatment (2004)

  Reconviction Following Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (2004)

  Examining the Injecting Practices of Injecting Drug Users in Scotland (2004)

  Residential detoxification and rehabilitation services for drug users: A review (2004)

  An exploration of the role of substance misuse nurses in Scotland (2004)

  Evaluation of The Provision of Single Use Citric Acid Sachets (2003)

  ‘Moving On’: Update - Employability & Employment (2003)

  The Life Skills Training Drug Education Programme: Review of Research (2003)

  Hepatitis C: Risks and Prevention Strategies in Injecting Drug Users (2002)

  Supporting Families and Carers of Drug Users: A Review (2002)

  Support for the Families of Drug Users - A Review of the Literature (2002)

  Drug Treatment Services for Young People: A Systematic Review (2002)

  Drug Treatment Services for Young People - A Research Review (2002)

  Evaluation of the Greater Glasgow Pharmacy Needle Exchange Scheme (2002)

  ‘Moving On’: Education, Training and Employment (2001).

Drug Misuse

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much money it has allocated to drug treatment programmes in each year since 1999.

Hugh Henry: The following table shows funding allocations to NHS boards for drug treatment and care services since 1999.

  

 Year
 Total (£000)


 1999-2000
 11,352


 2000-01
 12,352


 2001-02
 14,973


 2002-03
 16,951


 2003-04
 16,951


 2004-05
 19,750


 2005-06
 23,700



  In addition, local authorities received the following GAE allocations which were ring-fenced for drug services.

  

 Year
 Total


 1999-2000
 0


 2000-01
 6,800,000


 2001-02
 6,800,000


 2002-03
 6,800,000

Drug Misuse

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what trials it has undertaken in the last five years in respect of different drug treatment programmes; what the findings of such trials were, and what action was taken as a result of these findings.

Hugh Henry: The Scottish Executive has funded the following clinical trial of a drug treatment programme: Randomised Controlled Trial of Dihydrocodeine and Methadone in the Treatment of Opiate Dependence Syndrome (2005). The trial was funded from 2000 to 2004 by the Chief Scientist Office. It found that dihydrocodeine was as good as methadone in terms of outcomes such as survival, retention in treatment and continued drug use. An executive summary of the final report is available on the Chief Scientist Office website www.show.scot.nhs.uk/cso .

Drug Misuse

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much money it has ring fenced to tackle drug-related issues in each year since 1999, broken down by (a) department and (b) budget heading.

Hugh Henry: The following table details ring-fenced funding for drug-related activities broken down by department and budget heading since 2003.

  

 Department
 Budget Heading
2003-04(£000)
2004-05(£000)
2005-06(£000)


 Justice
 Arrest Referral
 720
 590
 500


 Drugs Courts
 1,200
 1,900
 1,900


 Drug Treatment and Testing Orders
 4,200
 5,300
 7,200


 Time Out Centre
 150
 1,700
 1,700


 Drug Association Team Support*
 1,600
 1,600
 1,600


 Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency
 19,470
 16,690
 25,540


 Scottish Drug Forum*
 90
 190
 210


 Scotland Against Drugs*
 1,500
 1,500
 1,500


 Treatment Programmes*
 16,900
 19,750
 23,700


 GP Training*
 nil
 nil
 350


 Drug Misuse Research Programme*
 540
 540
 446


 ISD – Drug Information Strategy*
 551.5
 944.5
 703.5


 Health
 Scottish Drug Forum
 205
 212
 219


 Crew 2000
 25
 25
 nil


 Education
 Scottish Network for Families Against Drug
 180
 10
 23


 Scottish Drug Forum
 49
 51
 53


 Crew 2000
 26.9
 26.9
 26.9


 Re-solve
 nil
 nil
 29.2


 Choices for Life
 nil
 300
 nil



  Note: *Transferred from the Health Department to the Justice Department in 2005.

Drug Misuse

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the conviction rate has been for those accused of (a) drug dealing, (b) being in possession of drugs, (c) drug trafficking, (iv) employing others to deal in drugs and (v) living off immoral earnings in each of the last five years.

Cathy Jamieson: The available information is given in the table. The court proceedings statistics for 2004-05 are planned for publication in spring 2006.

  Persons with a Charge Proved in Scottish Courts for Selected Offences1 as a Percentage of Total Persons Proceeded Against, 1999-2003.

  

 Offence
 1999
 2000
 2001
 20024
 20034,5


 Supply, possession with intent to supply drugs
 71
 73
 73
 73
 73


 Possession of drugs
 88
 87
 89
 89
 89


 Drug trafficking2
 71
 74
 73
 73
 73


 Living off immoral earnings3
 100
 -
 100
 100
 100



  Notes:

  1. Where main offence. "Employing others to deal in drugs" is not an identifiable offence category within the Justice Department classification of crimes and offences.

  2. Includes illegal importation, production and supply of drugs, money laundering and other related offences.

  3. Includes brothel keeping and immoral traffic offences.

  4. There is an undercount of acquittals in the 2002 and 2003 data for persons proceeded against. As a result the percentage conviction rate figures for these years have been estimated.

  5. Includes estimated data.

Drug Misuse

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) longest and (b) shortest sentence has been for anyone convicted of (i) drug dealing, (ii) being in possession of drugs, (iii) drug trafficking, (iv) employing others to deal in drugs and (v) living off immoral earnings in each of the last five years.

Cathy Jamieson: The available information is given in the table. The court proceedings statistics for 2004-05 are planned for publication in spring 2006.

  Persons Given a Custodial Sentence in Scottish Courts for Selected Offences1:

  Minimum and Maximum Sentence Imposed (Days), 1999-2003

  

 Offence
 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003


 Min.
 Max.
 Min.
 Max.
 Min.
 Max.
 Min.
 Max.
 Min.
 Max.


 Supply, possession with intent to supply drugs
 30
 6,209
 30
 4,182
 40
 4,383
 14
 3,653
 14
 5,114


 Possession of drugs
 7
 2,557
 5
 1,461
 7
 2,192
 7
 1,096
 7
 3,196


 Drug trafficking2
 30
 6,209
 30
 4,383
 40
 4,383
 14
 3,653
 14
 6,575


 Living off immoral earnings3
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 91
 91
 -
 -



  Notes:

  1. Where main offence. "Employing others to deal in drugs" is not an identifiable offence category within the Justice Department classification of crimes and offences.

  2. Includes illegal importation, production and supply of drugs, money laundering and other related offences.

  3. Includes brothel keeping and immoral traffic offences.

Drug Misuse

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what quantity of illegal drugs has been seized by (a) police and (b) HM Customs and Excise in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area and showing (i) type and (ii) street value.

Hugh Henry: Data on the quantities of illegal drugs seized in Scotland is only available broken down by police force area, not by local authority area.

  Figures for the years 1999 to 2003 inclusive are given in the publications listed, copies of which are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. The tables show the quantity of drugs seized, broken down by police force area and drug type, but no information is available on the street value of the seizures. Figures on seizures made by HM Revenues and Customs (formerly HM Customs and Excise) are also presented, but cannot be broken down to a Scotland level.

  

 Year of Seizures
 Publication
 Table
 Bib. number


 1999
 Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland 2001
 104
 20860


 2000
 Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland 2002
 E2.2
 27706


 2001
 Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland 2003
 E2.2
 32141


 2002
 Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland 2004
 E2.2
 36121


 2003
 Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland 2005
 D2.2
 38474

Foster Care

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children have been in foster care in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Robert Brown: The numbers of looked after children in foster care on the 31 March each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area, are shown in the following table.

  Number of Children Looked After by Foster Carers on the 31 March

  

 
 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003
 2004
 2005


 Aberdeen City
 210
 156*
 119*
 132*
 97
 124*
 157


 Aberdeenshire
 91*
 116
 112
 116
 114
 128
 121


 Angus
 73
 73
 66
 85
 94
 102
 118


 Argyll and Bute
 37
 30
 27
 32
 39
 45
 35


 Clackmannanshire
 33
 32
 35
 36
 33
 33
 45


 Dumfries and Galloway
 119
 105
 127
 127
 144
 120
 111


 Dundee City
 125
 151
 118
 122
 127
 149
 137


 East Ayrshire
 32
 56
 72
 66
 84
 86
 82


 East Dunbartonshire
 7
 9
 10
 15
 9
 18
 18


 East Lothian
 54
 65
 79*
 74
 81
 74
 64


 East Renfrewshire
 12
 6
 6
 12
 11
 13
 13


 Edinburgh City
 304*
 330
 326
 318
 339
 370
 349


 Eilean Siar
 12
 10
 8
 7
 16
 16
 12


 Falkirk
 91
 87
 98
 84
 107
 104
 104


 Fife
 182
 158
 191
 185
 201
 203
 239


 Glasgow City
 657
 686
 640
 714
 706
 800
 804


 Highland
 178
 117
 111
 103
 96
 99
 107


 Inverclyde
 31
 32
 23
 24
 27
 33
 33


 Midlothian
 49*
 56
 40
 46
 51
 58
 61


 Moray
 95
 56
 58
 54*
 61
 69
 31


 North Ayrshire
 61
 45
 77
 53
 59
 64
 74


 North Lanarkshire
 118
 134
 145
 142
 134
 136
 123


 Orkney Islands
 5
 5
 10
 8
 6
 5
 6


 Perth and Kinross
 64
 48
 53
 66
 63
 54
 65


 Renfrewshire
 79
 70
 80
 87
 104
 127
 128


 Scottish Borders
 73
 67
 69
 81
 79
 83
 69


 Shetland Islands
 12
 11
 15
 14
 13
 11
 9


 South Ayrshire
 18
 32
 34
 50
 54
 47
 46


 South Lanarkshire
 82
 82*
 70*
 74
 80
 78
 78


 Stirling
 61
 61
 59
 56
 56
 57
 52


 West Dunbartonshire
 68
 68
 60
 68
 70
 73
 69


 West Lothian
 122
 104
 146
 118
 134
 82
 133


 Scotland
 3155
 3058
 3084
 3170
 3288
 3461
 3493



  Notes:

  Figures exclude children on short-term placements only.

  *Estimated due to missing or incomplete data.

Health

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has implemented the decision of the Parliament in relation to motion S1M-3375, as agreed on 12 September 2002.

Mr Andy Kerr: I can confirm that, in 2004, NHS Greater Glasgow undertook a review of the assumptions underpinning the board’s decision to move to two accident and emergency wards. The board considered a report of that review in February 2005 and agreed that the assumptions remained valid. I can also confirm that both a North and a South Monitoring group were established following the debate on NHS Greater Glasgow’s acute services on 12 September 2002. Both Monitoring Groups meet regularly and their remit includes monitoring of the retention of named services at Stobhill and Victoria Hospitals; raising concerns with NHS Greater Glasgow, and allowing stakeholder involvement in service design and other key aspects of the Acute Services Plan. I recently met with both chairs of the groups and am keen for the groups to continue to carry out their monitoring roles until the new hospitals are operating. I can also confirm that Audit Scotland agreed that PriceWaterhouse Coopers (PWC) would undertake an independent audit of the delivery of NHS Greater Glasgow’s Acute Hospital Modernisation Strategy. I understand that, as part of the annual audit process, PWC have been continuously involved in monitoring, auditing and reporting upon key aspects of the delivery of the strategy. I can confirm that the Scottish Ambulance Service has more paramedics than technicians and now has the staffing mix to be able to deploy a paramedic-led response to all calls that require such a response. In Glasgow specifically, the number of paramedics has risen from 65 in 2002 to 139 at the end of March 2005.

Health

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Health Economics Research Unit report examining NHS Quality Improvement Scotland’s reports will be published and whether copies will be made available to the general public.

Mr Andy Kerr: In March 2005 NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (NHS QIS) commissioned the Health Economics Research Unit to examine the impact of health technology assessments on the NHS and on patients.

  NHS QIS received this report in February 2006.

  The findings will be used to improve the impact of health technology assessments on services and patient outcomes.

  Information on this project will be published by NHS QIS.

Health

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the NHS Quality Improvement Scotland’s report’s recommendations on troponin testing have been implemented.

Mr Andy Kerr: NHS boards are responsible for implementing NHS Quality Improvement Scotland health technology appraisals.

Health

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive what targets its Health Department has for reducing CHD-related premature mortality and what progress is being made in implementing such targets.

Mr Andy Kerr: The target for reducing mortality in people aged under 75 from CHD is 60% between 1995 and 2010. Data indicate that there has been a reduction of 44% since 1995, and if the present rate of reduction continues, the target will be met. A further target has been set to reduce CHD mortality by 27% over five years between 2003 and 2008 for the most deprived communities. This target will also be met if current trends continue.

Health

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current position is on the provision of Troponin testing in community hospitals and general practice.

Mr Andy Kerr: All district general hospitals have access to troponin testing.

  A technology appraisal published by the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in September 2002 did not recommend the introduction of troponin testing to GP surgeries. The recommendations of this appraisal were endorsed for application in Scotland by NHS Quality Improvement Scotland.

  No data is available on access to testing in community hospitals.

Health

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the present fertility rate is and what the comparative rates were (a) 5, (b) 10, (c) 15, (d) 20 and (e) 25 years ago.

George Lyon: The information requested is given in the following table.

  Total Fertility Rate, Scotland

  

 1979
 1984
 1989
 1994
 1999
 2004


 1.84
 1.68
 1.61
 1.58
 1.51
 1.60

Housing

Murray Tosh (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-19671 by Malcolm Chisholm, what advice it gives to public bodies on attaching title conditions or other legal agreements to land transferred on favourable terms for affordable housing to ensure that the housing developed is protected as affordable housing for subsequent occupants.

Malcolm Chisholm: A number of options exist to ensure that affordable units which are built for low-cost home ownership remain affordable in the future. In order to control subsequent sales, conditions can be placed in sale missives, or public bodies may consider transferring land to Rural Housing Bodies which can then attach Rural Housing Burdens to properties. In the case of Homestake, the scheme includes provision for a "golden share", which can be retained by the RSL upon sale. Forestry Commission Scotland, for instance, ensures that its sites sold for low-cost home ownership are covered by either the Homestake golden share or a Rural Housing Burden.

  Planning Advice Note 74 "Affordable Housing" contains general advice on planning conditions and planning agreements to safeguard land identified for affordable housing and to retain affordable units. The PAN includes a case example outlining City of Edinburgh Council’s use of planning agreements to regulate the sale of discounted dwellings for affordable housing.

  In order to ensure that housing for social rent stays in the affordable sector, and is not sold to a sitting tenant through the Right to Buy (RtB), a public body would need to transfer its land to a charitable housing association as defined in the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990) or the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 (Registered Social Landlords) Order 2002. Transfers of land to housing associations which do not comply with the above criteria, may mean that rented units could in future be subject to the RtB. Future RtB sales could be prevented by a RtB pressured area designation, for tenancies which commenced on or after 30 September 2002. It is for local authorities to apply to Scottish ministers for pressured area designations.

Housing

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding has been given to local authorities to provide supported accommodation in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Malcolm Chisholm: Local authorities are not given a specific budget for supported accommodation. The spending review 2004 invested £1.2 billion over three years in housing support services through the Supporting People programme to local authorities for vulnerable people, and an additional £50 million per year for preventing and alleviating homelessness. All these resources go towards supporting a variety of tenancies, including supported accommodation, but a breakdown by local authority of the total amount invested locally in supported accommodation is not held centrally.

Housing

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation should be carried out by local authorities with tenants before rent increases are imposed.

Malcolm Chisholm: Where it is proposed to increase rents or other charges payable by all tenants, the landlord should consult all its tenants and have regard for the views expressed. In all cases, landlords are required to give tenants not less than four weeks notice, in writing.

Housing

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the analysis of the responses to its consultation on the implementation of the private landlord provisions of the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004.

Malcolm Chisholm: The report of the analysis of the responses is in preparation and will be published in the spring.

Information Technology

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-22669 by George Lyon on 9 February 2006, how many pre-Christmas deliveries BT was unable to meet under the Home Computer Initiative Framework Contract and what compensation will be provided to those whom it failed to supply on time.

George Lyon: BT have advised that approximately 20,000 orders were delayed. Many of these were due for pre-Christmas delivery and others were scheduled for delivery in 2006.

  As a goodwill gesture, BT have offered a £50 voucher for use in their online shop for those customers whose orders were not shipped by BT for delivery between 12 and 31 December. BT have also offered a 25 per cent discount voucher, also for use in their online shop, to all other customers.

  This however does not preclude individual public authorities from further pursuing specific cases with BT as they deem appropriate.

Judicial Appointments

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what recommendations have been made by the Judicial Appointments Board in relation to each judicial appointment made since its inception.

Cathy Jamieson: To date, the Scottish Executive has accepted all the recommendations of the board for appointments to judicial office. The names of people who have been appointed are in the public domain. A list is available on the board’s website. The web address is:

  http://www.judicialappointmentsscotland.gov.uk/judicial/JUD_Main.jsp?pContentID=494&p_applic=CCC&pMenu0=45&p_service=Content.show&.

Justice

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been convicted in Scottish courts in each of the last five years for offences relating to the trafficking of women from countries in Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and South America for the purpose of forced prostitution.

Hugh Henry: The information requested is not available from the statistics held centrally.

Justice

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether estimates have been made of the number of women brought into Scotland in each of the last five years who have been compelled to work as prostitutes.

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many foreign women have sought refuge in Scotland in the last five years in order to avoid being forced into prostitution.

Hugh Henry: The information requested is not held centrally. As indicated in the joint Home Office/Scottish Executive consultation Tackling Human Trafficking: Consultation on Proposals for a UK Action Plan accurate information on trafficking is difficult to obtain, owing to the covert nature of the activity. The consultation seeks views from stakeholders on how the extent of trafficking into and within the UK can be measured.

  Police forces in Scotland are currently participating in Operation Pentameter, a UK-wide multi-agency campaign to combat trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Operation Pentameter will report in the summer and should provide intelligence on the extent of trafficking activity in Scotland.

Justice

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions have taken place with chief constables concerning the trafficking of women in Scotland to work as prostitutes.

Hugh Henry: There have been no recent discussions with chief constables on the issue of trafficking of women for the purposes of sexual exploitation. However, as indicated in our consultation Tackling Human Trafficking: Consultation on Proposals for a UK Action Plan , the Executive recognises the importance of ensuring police are aware of trafficking issues and have the knowledge to deal with them it. I therefore welcome the UK–wide Operation Pentameter  against human trafficking, launched by the police on 21 February 2006. My officials are maintaining close contact with police colleagues regarding this operation.

Justice

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to modify extant legislation in relation to the trafficking of women into Scotland for the purpose of compelling them to work as prostitutes.

Hugh Henry: There are no plans at present to amend those aspects of current legislation on trafficking for sexual exploitation which are devolved to the Scottish Parliament. Under section 22 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003, it is an offence for any person to be involved in the trafficking into or out of the UK of a person or people for the purposes of prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation. The maximum sentence on conviction on indictment is 14 years imprisonment.

  We have sought views on investigation, enforcement and prosecution in relation to trafficking offences as part of our consultation on a UK Action Plan on Human Trafficking.

Justice

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what recent representations have been received anent the trafficking of women and their involvement in involuntary prostitution.

Hugh Henry: There have been no recent representations made to the Scottish Executive regarding the trafficking of women for the purpose of sexual exploitation. We are currently undertaking a joint consultation with the Home Office on Tackling Human Trafficking: Consultation on Proposals for a UK Action Plan . The consultation closes on 5 April 2006.

  My officials have also been in discussions with a range of organisations with an interest in these matters as part of an exercise to determine the scope of the next phase of the review of prostitution, concerning indoor prostitution and trafficking.

Justice

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidelines exist for guaranteeing the independence of the Lord Advocate and the Solicitor General from political interference in their judicial decisions and whether these will be published.

Colin Boyd QC: The independence of the Lord Advocate is enshrined in section 48 of the Scotland Act 1998. This independence is fundamental to the role of the Lord Advocate as head of the system of criminal prosecution in the public interest. It is a cornerstone of any democracy that those who make prosecution decisions do so independently of any other person and, as the Lord Advocate’s deputy, the Solicitor General for Scotland requires to exercise the same independence.

National Health Service

David McLetchie (Edinburgh Pentlands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the general members of the Mental Health Tribunal fell into each of the six sub-categories for the appointment of general members.

Lewis Macdonald: Information showing the number of general members falling into the six sub-categories is available on the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland website www.mhtscot.gov.uk .

National Health Service

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to publish the review of NHS genetic services.

Mr Andy Kerr: The report of the Expert Working Group set up in 2004 to review NHS genetic services and the application of new genetic knowledge in relation to healthcare in Scotland, was submitted to the Executive in December 2005. The Executive is currently considering the content of this thorough and detailed report. We can then move to publish the report, and implement any recommendations that we have accepted as being crucial to enhancing, what are already recognised as very good genetics services, here in Scotland.

Older People

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to monitor and check for early signs of malnutrition among elderly people, both in the community and in residential homes.

Lewis Macdonald: Responsibilities for on-going care vary according to whether people are in the community, in care homes or in hospitals.

  In the community, people who are undernourished will generally come to the attention of their GP who will take appropriate action. This includes management of weight and nutrition where appropriate such as in conditions where a person has a low Body Mass Index (BMI), unintentional significant weight loss and other areas of clinical concern such as apathy, anaemia, excessive tiredness, poor appetite, muscle wasting, impaired swallowing, altered bowel habit, prolonged intercurrent illness, fragile skin, and poor wound healing.

  Appropriate action could also involve health promotion advice and referral as appropriate, reflecting patient choice; general management of patients who are terminally ill and management of chronic disease.

  In care homes, staff are expected to ensure that residents are getting enough to eat and drink and, where there are concerns, to seek advice from appropriate professionals such as a dietician or the resident’s GP.

  In hospital, patients are screened for risk of undernutrition, both on admission and on an on-going basis. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has now recommended that this type of screening should be carried out in England and Wales.

Olympic Games

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-22531 by Patricia Ferguson on 3 February 2006, why it now does not rule out a bid for a Scottish city to host the Olympics in future when it has previously stated that no Scottish city was in a position to do so and that the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games "could feasibly only be staged in London" if they were to take place in the United Kingdom.

Patricia Ferguson: As I said in response to S2W-17566,answered on 18 July 2005, it was presently only feasible for a UK Olympic Games to be held in London. As Scotland’s sports facilities and infrastructure continue to improve that position will change.

  As I said in response to S2W-22531 on 3 February 2006, the Scottish Executive currently has no plans to support a Glasgow Olympic bid but would not rule out such a bid in the future. At present efforts are focused on bringing the Commonwealth Games to Scotland in 2014.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Olympic Games

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-22531 by Patricia Ferguson on 3 February 2006, how this indicates whether it shares the view of the International Olympic Committee that being a "world city" is a prerequisite for hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Patricia Ferguson: The Executive agrees that it is necessary for cities wishing to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games to meet certain requirements. It also agrees that this is for the International Olympic Committee to consider.

Olympic Games

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-22531 by Patricia Ferguson on 3 February 2006, whether this answer indicates that it considers Glasgow and Edinburgh to be "world cities".

Patricia Ferguson: As I stated in my previous answer, the Scottish Executive is aware that several of our major cities, of which Glasgow and Edinburgh are two, have world class facilities. As I stated in my response to S2W-22466 on 31 January 2006, the IOC have given no definition for the term "world city". Therefore it is impossible to say whether Edinburgh or Glasgow are "world cities".

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Planning etc. (Scotland) Bill

Murray Tosh (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any of the proposals in the Planning etc. (Scotland) Bill will impact on how the Executive processes and determines applications for those electricity generating developments which are currently determined by Scottish ministers under the Electricity Acts and whether any provisions of the bill will (a) amend the Electricity Acts or any regulations issued under them or (b) affect powers conferred on Scottish ministers by the Electricity Acts.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Electricity Act is a reserved matter and powers in respect of consents have been executively devolved to the Scottish ministers. The arrangements for consideration of applications for consent under the Electricity Act 1989 are separate from those for the planning system. The Planning etc. (Scotland) Bill does not therefore amend any of the provisions in the Electricity Act 1989.

Police

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many special constables there have been in each police force since 1999, provided in table form, and how many of these special constables later joined the police on a full-time basis.

Cathy Jamieson: The available information is shown in the following table.

  Number of Special Constables at 31 December

  

 Force
 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003
 2004
 2005


 Central
 60
 53
 49
 69
 75
 57
 129


 Dumfries and Galloway
 162
 135
 109
 97
 102
 105
 89


 Fife
 90
 101
 96
 93
 105
 117
 119


 Grampian
 125
 120
 117
 99
 104
 131
 151


 Lothian and Borders
 139
 148
 126
 101
 50
 86
 74


 Northern
 229
 233
 213
 212
 198
 246
 239


 Strathclyde
 338
 340
 315
 302
 249
 261
 261


 Tayside
 162
 143
 111
 118
 98
 114
 134


 Total
 1,305
 1,273
 1,136
 1,091
 981
 1,117
 1,196



  Source: Quarterly strength returns from forces.

  Information on the number of special constables who later joined the police on a full-time basis is not held centrally.

Police

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has allocated to the special constable initiative.

Cathy Jamieson: In 2004-05 £300,000 was provided for a pilot reward scheme for Special Constables in Tayside and Grampian. Following an evaluation of the pilot, the scheme will be rolled out across Scotland from 2006-07 and an additional £1 million per annum has been allocated for this initiative.

Prison Service

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many female remand prisoners have been transferred to Cornton Vale Prison as a result of the women’s unit at Craiginches Prison being closed.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Seven female remand prisoners arrived at Cornton Vale following the closure of the women’s unit at Aberdeen Prison.

Prison Service

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many sniffer dogs are used in prisons to detect drugs.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Nine dogs are used across prisons in Scotland to detect drugs.

Prison Service

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive which prisons use sniffer dogs to detect drugs.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  All prisons have access to drug detection dogs.

Rail Safety

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-21904 by Cathy Jamieson on 25 January 2006, which organisations or institutions carry out bespoke rail safety training for British Transport Police based in Scotland and at which locations this training is carried out.

Cathy Jamieson: First Engineering carry out bespoke rail safety training for British Transport Police based in Scotland. Training takes place at First Engineering’s training centre in Rutherglen, Glasgow.

Rendition Flights

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-21584 by Cathy Jamieson on 22 December 2005, why it has not said whether it has made any assessment of the details of the case being pursued by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Khaled al-Masri in relation to its assessment of whether or not to investigate the claims that US agencies have used Scottish airports as refuelling stops for flights engaged in the process of "extraordinary rendition".

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive has nothing add to its answer to question S2W-21584 on 22 December 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Rendition Flights

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-21574 by Cathy Jamieson on 22 December 2005, what the purpose has been of any discussions regarding the matter of US agencies using Scottish airports as refuelling stops for flights allegedly involved in the process of "extraordinary rendition" other than "routine discussions primarily in relation to the answering of parliamentary questions and other enquiries".

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive has nothing to add to the answer to question S2W-21574. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Scottish Criminal Record Office

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20247 by Cathy Jamieson on 9 November 2005, whether the material which is the subject of the dispute between the Aberdeen Fingerprint Bureau and the Scottish Criminal Record Office has been peer reviewed or independently assessed at any time; if so, what the outcome was, and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.

Cathy Jamieson: The fingerprint mark which was the subject of the report by three members of the Aberdeen Bureau of the Scottish Fingerprint Service has been reviewed and independently assessed by a number of people over the last nine years. Experts have reached different conclusions about the ownership of the mark.

Scottish Criminal Record Office

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the current Head of the Scottish Fingerprint Service will have his contract renewed or extended when it expires next month and, if not, what agreements are being put in place to replace him and what expertise, experience and qualifications in fingerprinting his successor will require to have.

Cathy Jamieson: This is a matter for the Head of the Scottish Criminal Record Office, the Head of the Scottish Fingerprint Service and his employers, Strathclyde Joint Police Board. It would not be appropriate for me to comment.

Scottish Executive Correspondence

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether a protocol has been established concerning ministerial responses to representations made by Westminster MPs on devolved matters.

Ms Margaret Curran: I refer the member to the question S2W-17312 on 23 June 2005, which sets out the approach that the Executive takes to correspondence and, by extension, to other forms of representations.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Scottish Executive Publications

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20893 by Ms Margaret Curran on 6 December 2005, whether the booklet by the Office of the Scottish Parliamentary Counsel on the use of plain language in legislation has been published.

Ms Margaret Curran: I am pleased to announce that we are today publishing the booklet in electronic form. It is available on http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/02/17093804 .

Scottish Water

Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the severance package was for Professor Alan Alexander on his resignation from his post as Chairman of Scottish Water.

Rhona Brankin: Professor Alexander resigned because of the disagreement between him and the Executive over Scottish Water’s 2006-10 delivery plan that is described in the answers to questions S2W-23461 and S2W-23462 on 8 March 2006. Given the importance to Scottish Water and its customers of the Executive and Scottish Water’s Chair having a shared view of how Scottish Water will achieve the Executive’s objectives for 2006-10, Professor Alexander’s resignation was in the public interest. In these circumstances, the Scottish ministers decided to exercise their powers under paragraph 5(3) of schedule 3 to the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002 to require Scottish Water to make an ex-gratia  payment to Professor Alexander in the sum of £26,975.

Scottish Water

Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what reasons it was given for the resignation of Professor Alan Alexander from his post as Chairman of Scottish Water.

Rhona Brankin: Professor Alan Alexander tendered his resignation as Chair of Scottish Water to the Minister for Environment and Rural Development on 20 February 2006. His reason for doing so was that he did not agree with the view of the Executive and Scottish Water’s regulators (the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, the Drinking Water Quality Regulator and the Water Industry Commission for Scotland), that Scottish Water’s delivery plan for 2006-10 fell short of their requirements for the plan in a number of material respects.

Scottish Water

Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions took place with the Minister for Environment and Rural Development and Professor Alan Alexander in the days immediately prior to Professor Alexander’s resignation from his post as Chairman of Scottish Water.

Rhona Brankin: The Minister for Environment and Rural Development and the Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development met Professor Alan Alexander on 9 February. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the views of the Executive, supported by Scottish Water’s regulators (the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, the Drinking Water Quality Regulator and the Water Industry Commission for Scotland), that Scottish Water’s delivery plan for 2006-10 fell short of the Executive’s and regulators’ requirements for the plan in a number of material respects and the implications that these views had for Professor Alexander’s position as the Chair of Scottish Water. Professor Alexander responded that he believed the plan to be compliant with the requirements of the Executive and the regulators.

  The Minister for Environment and Rural Development undertook to consider Professor Alexander’s response, which Professor Alexander amplified in a letter that he sent to the Minister on 10 February 2006.

  The Minister for Environment and Rural Development met Professor Alexander on 16 February 2006 to inform Professor Alexander that the Executive and the regulators, who with the permission of Professor Alexander had been invited to comment on his letter of 10 February, had not changed their views of the delivery plan. Professor Alexander said he remained of the view that the plan was compliant. In light of the disagreement between him and the minister, he said that he intended to resign as Chair of Scottish Water. He requested that the announcement of his resignation should not be made until he had had time to inform his colleagues at Scottish Water of his decision. The Minister for Environment and Rural Development agreed to this request.

  The Minister for Environment and Rural Development met Professor Alexander on 20 February 2006 to receive Professor Alexander’s resignation and to agree the terms in which it should be announced.

Sport

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether a decision has been taken on any potential relocation of  sportscotland from South Gyle in Edinburgh.

Patricia Ferguson: This matter is under active consideration and it is hoped that an announcement will be made soon.

Supporting People

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to ensure that funding will be in place at national and local level to maintain in future years the funding currently provided under the Supporting People programme to people needing housing support for reasons such as disability, age, homelessness or deprivation and to training, care and support staff.

Malcolm Chisholm: In the 2004 Spending Review the Scottish Executive provided investment of £1.2 billion over three years in housing support services under the Supporting People programme to support vulnerable people. A further £50 million per annum is provided over the same period to prevent and alleviate homelessness. All of these resources go to local authorities, who are free to add to these resources from other budgets such as social work.

  Extensive guidance has been given to local authorities to establish local strategies to assess local needs and priorities, and make best use of these resources.

  Housing support service providers must contract with local authorities for Supporting People grant. Their contract price should be negotiated to include the costs of training support staff and preparing for their registration with the Scottish Social Services Council.

Vulnerable Adults

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many vulnerable adults have been in supported accommodation in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Malcolm Chisholm: Over 170,000 clients received housing support services in 2004-05 in various types of accommodation including mainstream housing, sheltered housing, special housing and supported accommodation. The following table gives figures for those in supported accommodation, but they only go back to 2003-04. However, because the data collection processes are still relatively new and developing some caution is needed in interpreting the data.

  Clients Living in Supported Accommodation who Receive Housing Support through Supporting People

  

 Local Authority
 2003-04
 2004-05


 Scotland
 10,790
 10,465


 Aberdeen City
 102
 103


 Aberdeenshire
 313
 379


 Angus
 96
 33


 Argyll and Bute
 63
 115


 Clackmannanshire
 52
 85


 Dumfries and Galloway
 0
 593


 Dundee City
 498
 606


 East Ayrshire
 139
 3


 East Dunbartonshire
 132
 165


 East Lothian
 111
 213


 East Renfrewshire
 87
 137


 Edinburgh
 2,641
 1,313


 Eilean Siar
 9
 22


 Falkirk
 146
 140


 Fife
 878
 1,343


 Glasgow
 3,442
 1,978


 Highland
 524
 674


 Inverclyde
 0
 555


 Midlothian
 50
 33


 Moray
 118
 103


 North Ayrshire
 9
 8


 North Lanarkshire
 134
 569


 Orkney
 17
 18


 Perth and Kinross
 180
 160


 Renfrewshire
 0
 13


 Scottish Borders
 0
 130


 Shetland
 25
 33


 South Ayrshire
 76
 128


 South Lanarkshire
 123
 154


 Stirling
 249
 83


 West Dunbartonshire
 309
 333


 West Lothian
 267
 243